12:30 Report

The Hill’s 12:30 Report — McCarthy’s bigger challenges begin after being voted Speaker

by Cate Martel - 01/09/23 12:30 PM ET

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–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

TALK OF THE MORNING

By golly, he did it:

The dramatic saga is over, and the House has a Speaker — Kevin McCarthy.

In the 15th ballot early on Saturday morning, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) rallied enough support from GOP critics to become the next Speaker of the House.

How it ended: Six McCarthy critics voted present instead of voting for another Speaker. That lowered the threshold needed for McCarthy to win the gavel. The final vote ended with 216 votes for McCarthy, 212 for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and the six present votes.

Now, what?: The House’s first order of business is to vote on a rules package. McCarthy offered a number of concessions in exchange for support from several GOP holdouts. Keep in mind: There already appears to be some GOP opposition to that package, so this vote could be messy.

One of the major concessions McCarthy offered: Lowering the threshold for the motion to vacate the chair to one member. This means it would be pretty easy to force a vote to oust the Speaker. The Hill’s Mychael Schnell lists and explains the other changes to the rules package

One of my favorite parts of covering the Speaker votes last week: C-SPAN controlled the cameras on the House floor, which are usually controlled by the majority party. Usually, there are restrictions on what can be filmed, so that’s why last week’s Speaker votes showed some interesting huddles and squabbles on the House floor. One of the McCarthy holdouts called the C-SPAN coverage a ‘good thing’

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS FROM CAPITOL HILL:

McCarthy returned to the Capitol later on Saturday: NBC News’s Julie Tsirkin tweeted, “A casually-dressed SPEAKER MCCARTHY is in the Capitol, showing off his new digs to family. ‘It’s my day off, okay? Give me a break,’ he said after I asked how he was feeling.” Video

Check out the new signage: The Hill’s Sarakshi Rai tweeted side-by-side photos of the signage over the door in the Capitol. Before-and-after photos

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) calculating the math: Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) tweeted, “Fancy Nancy said, ‘He can’t count. I could have told him didn’t have the votes.’ ” Photo of Pelosi

This photo is pretty insane — notice that Greene’s phone says ‘DT’: Photojournalist Al Drago tweeted a photo of Rep.Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) holding up her phone call with some named “DT” as the drama unfolded on Friday night. Photo

Watch McCarthy confront Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) after the failed 14th vote: You could cut the tension with a knife. C-SPAN video

This made me laugh: @GDouglasiii tweeted, “When I said ‘new year, new me,’ I didn’t think I’d be falling asleep to C-SPAN on a Friday night.”

McCarthy’s facial expression says it all: Tweeted by The Associated Press’s Meg Kinnard after the 14th failed ballot.

Lol: Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod tweeted, “ ’I wake up in the middle of the night and I say ‘Jeffries,’ ’ Rep.-elect Maxwell Frost [D-Fla.] quips to reporters.”

WHAT ELSE IS THE HOUSE UP TO THIS WEEK?:

The House will take up the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act and will finalize committee assignments this week. More on the House’s agenda this week, via The Hill’s Mychael Schnell

It’s Monday. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

🏃‍♂️2024

Ron DeSantis is at risk of peaking too early:

“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is the early front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, but lawmakers and strategists warn this can sometimes be the ‘death knell’ for a candidate, pointing to other early presidential front-runners who flamed out despite high expectations.”

A recent example: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) was seen as the early front-runner in 2016. He raised more money than other Republicans in 2015 and held the lead in polling, but his campaign never materialized into expectations.

Other examples — and what this could mean for DeSantis’s 2024 hopes, via The Hill’s Alexander Bolton

👑 Getting traction

Prince Harry’s media blitz:

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, is releasing his memoir on Tuesday.

He appeared on ’60 Minutes’: Ahead of the release, Prince Harry sat down with Anderson Cooper for a wide-ranging interview on CBS News’s “60 Minutes.” Watch the interview

And on GMA: Prince Harry also spoke with “Good Morning America” co-anchor Michael Strahan about his memoir. Watch Prince Harry’s GMA interview

SOME NEWS FROM THE INTERVIEWS:

For years, Prince Harry thought Princess Diana had faked her death: “For a long … time, I just refused to accept that she was … gone … maybe this is all part of a plan … and then that she would call us and that we would go and join her…” Watch the ’60 Minutes’ clip

Prince Harry says he was not invited on the plane to say goodbye to the Queen: Watch the ’60 Minutes’ clip

On the feud with his family: “What people don’t know is the efforts that I’ve gone to to resolve this privately, both with my brother and with my father.” Watch the ‘Good Morning America’ clip

‘FIVE THINGS TO KNOW FROM PRINCE HARRY’S NEW BOOK’:

From The Hill’s Olafimihan Oshin

TIDBIT — ANDERSON COOPER DESCRIBES THE PALACE’S REACTION WHEN ASKED FOR COMMENT:

“60 Minutes reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. Palace representatives demanded that before considering commenting we provide them with our report prior to it airing, which is something 60 Minutes does not do.” Watch

🏛 In the Supreme Court

EXPECT A BUSY WINTER:

Here’s a list of cases in the Supreme Court this month, via The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld

🦠 The latest with COVID-19

At least the omicron subvariant name XBB.1.5 rolls off the tongue:

“The XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant is raising concerns of a potential surge in COVID-19 cases as it sweeps across the Northeast.”

The gist: “Officials have warned in recent weeks that the strain is highly transmissible, can more easily evade the immunity offered by vaccines or prior infections than past variants — and is likely to drive cases up around the country. The subvariant has already rapidly spread in the Northeast, where it is currently estimated to be causing about 72 percent of infections.”

What we know about the new subvariant, via The Hill’s Joseph Choi

THE NUMBERS:

Cases to date: 101 million

Death toll: 1,091,184

Current hospitalizations: 41,487

Shots administered: 665 million

Fully vaccinated: 69.1 percent of Americans

CDC data here.

🐥Notable tweets

Friday night C-SPAN is DC’s hottest club:

The Washington Post’s Dave Jorgenson tweeted, “It’s 11:02 pm. Do you know where your Congressmen are?” Screenshot from the House floor

Back story to that photo: Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) confronted Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) after a failed speaker vote. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) held Rogers back by his shoulder and his mouth. Rogers tweeted on Sunday that he regrets losing his temper. The full story

⏱On tap

The House is in. The Senate is out. President Biden is in Mexico City, Mexico.

3:45 p.m.: Harris ceremonially swears in Elizabeth Bagley as ambassador to Brazil.
5:15 p.m.: Biden and first lady Jill Biden participate in an official welcome ceremony hosted by Mexican President Lopez Obrador and Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller of Mexico.
6 p.m.: Biden and Mexican President Lopez Obrador hold a bilateral meeting.
7:45 p.m.: The Bidens participate in a trilateral dinner with the president of Mexico, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and their spouses.